The Year in Impact

Here we are, again at the start.

So many new opportunities to lead in love, to hold your own while loving another.

To love, without losing you.

We look for impact in our profession, in our level of success: how much did we earn, how did we lead, what contributions did we make?

But we often neglect to assess the direct impact we have daily in our personal world:
 
 

Impact on our children, our parents, our partners, our neighbors, our best friends, our employers and employees. Our teammates.

You may have gotten divorced. Again. Lost a love. Broken someone’s heart. Lived another year by yourself. No matter what happened in your personal relationships this past year, one thing is for sure: You have impact.

How do you measure your positive impact?

Look over the past year and take five minutes to assess:

Whose day you brightened — perhaps just with a smile.
Whose burden you lightened — by listening, serving or making fun.
Who you paid attention to.
Who you showed up for.
Who you outwardly appreciated.
Who you taught — explicitly, or just by being you. I once watched a customer service rep gracefully respond to an angry customer, and it was so compassionate and transformative, I try to emulate it whenever anyone is railing at me.
Who you loved effortlessly — even if it’s just your pet turtle.

Your mind may drift to all the ways you think you failed another, but this task is not about that.(If you’re really drawn to that way of looking at it, Lent is coming up in a few months. There’s a whole nine or ten months before the Jewish day of atonement. I’m out of religious occasions, but you get the drift — focus on what works).

Let yourself really see how you’ve impacted the people in your world, for the better.

Let that fuel you to love bigger and better, and have a bigger impact in your personal world this year.

Are you looking for ways to love without losing yourself? Check out the self-paced mini-courses available to get you off to a good start right now.

2 responses to “The Year in Impact”

1. Maya Benattar says:

   January 6, 2016 at 5:16 pm

   Love this so much, Blair! Happy new year!

   Reply
   • Blair Glaser says:

     January 6, 2016 at 8:25 pm

     Thanks so much, Maya! Happy New Year to you, too!

     Reply